Saturday, October 30, 2010

I've been here in Singapore for three months now, working for slightly more than two. The initial sense of awe I had for the country has definitely worn off. It's safe to say that I've fairly gotten used to living here. There's only this lingering feeling of amazement at some of the high-tech aspects of life here that I think I won't ever get rid of (for example, the linked public transport system -- I can't get enough of that!).

I somehow still can't make up my mind about it, though. Part of me feels like: "It's been 3 months already? I didn't realize I've been here that long. I guess I can't say 'I'm just new here' anymore." On the other hand, I also feel like: "It's only been 3 months? How much longer can I stand being alone here?!"

I simply distract myself from getting too down. I amuse myself with my surroundings: the buildings, the people, the birds, the weather. When I'm in my room, I guess I feel that I need to be extra-distracted that, most of the time, I skip some household chores until I can't afford not to do them anymore. Right now, my floor has a slight shade of gray where I haven't walked on. I'll sweep it later. My sneakers have a tinge of yellow where it should be off-white. I'll wash it tomorrow. I think my stock of rice grain already has weevils -- I should get to that right away.

Right now, I'm glad that it isn't too sunny and hot, so it's not too uncomfortable to move around while I attend to my laundry. The dim view outside my window feels a little too gloomy, however.

I'm trying not to over-think things. I've already proven that over-thinking gets me nowhere. So, my usual state of mind for the past couple of months here is that of a certain kind of calm. Like I'm floating on my back in a swimming pool. I'm not just drifting aimlessly and "going with the flow", as if I'm on some wild river going uncontrollably downstream -- I'm feeling comfortable in the pool of my choice, enjoying every square inch of buoyancy.

Monday, August 16, 2010

I was able to watch the new Tekken movie courtesy of Mike. Several minutes into the movie, I just had to take down some notes as it ran. If I hadn't I would've just forgotten a lot of my reactions. In hindsight, I guess it would've been better if I had timestamps per reaction. =p

Here goes:

[Spoiler warning: If you do watch the movie, your day will be spoiled!]

I'd let the lame backstory pass.

No respect for the characters whatsoever

Raven? No hints of being a ninja? Dead, just like that, in a gun fight, not in a match?

Steve? No hints of being a boxer?

Christie? Not capoeira?

Jacks? Mere foot soldiers? Jackhammers. Anvil. Yeah, yeah.

Dragunov -- since when was it spelled "Dragonov"??

And why does he look like he's always just about to laugh?

Nina didn't look cold enough.

The fighting styles aren't obvious!

They should be since they're a huge part of a fighting game character's personality!

Why insist on Kazuya's facial hair? He would have looked great without it!

Kei is taking a short course at the UP ITTC. Their classes are on Saturdays, 9am to 5pm. The first day of class was last weekend, though, but I wasn't able to accompany her then because it coincided with our company outing. I was so ready to ditch our company outing, but Kei insisted that I go. :p

So I went with her yesterday. We departed Makati at around 7:30am. It was a long time since my last MRT ride; almost half a year, I think. I bought a stored value card, since Kei's classes would still go for another three weeks.

We got off at the Quezon Avenue station. I was surprised that the mini-mall right by the MRT station, Eton Centris, was already open. The queue for UP-bound jeepneys was by the mall.

I've never explored the UP Diliman campus before. I only have a vague recollection of the few places I've been to way back in high school. It helped a lot that Kei showed me a map of the campus last Friday.

Map Source: http://iblogph.org/images/up_map.jpg

With my extraordinary memory, I was only able to remember the location of Ang Bahay ng Alumni relative to the ITTC building. It was a relief it was that easy.

Just walk straight along this street, then turn left at the 3rd corner.

Why Bahay ng Alumni? We wanted to eat at Chocolate Kiss! I first learned about it from Aldwin and Joe-e, when they suggested that we get together after our *ehem* victory, but it never pushed through, due to some time constraints.

When Kei and her classmates went to class, I walked to Bahay ng Alumni. Recon. :p

There was a commencement ceremony at the time, and Chocolate Kiss was packed. I asked if they took reservations but, apparently, they didn't.

As with any other new place I've been (whenever I have the time), I walked around campus. Luckily, it was partly cloudy and I didn't have to suffer the sun. I was a bit glad that I was finally getting around UP Diliman by myself. The last time I was there, alone, was way back in 2nd year high school. I was a kid who didn't get out much, who just lost all his money from his last jeepney ride. I had to ask passers-by for coins so I could call and page Ate (that's right, _page_ -- kids these days wouldn't know what that meant! :p). It took a while before I collected 2 pesos but, after I did, I ran around looking for a payphone and called Tita Nery instead, hoping that Ate was in Marikina -- she wasn't. It suddenly dawned on me that I could collect more but, this time, for jeepney fare! I can't remember if it was 6 or 7 pesos, but I was able to pay for a ride back to Quezon Avenue and I managed to get back to the dorm safely.

Back to yesterday. There was barely any activity, probably due to being a summer weekend, so I easily got bored. I decided to get on the next jeepney that passed by. Just like that, I found myself back at Eton Centris. There were fairly a lot of stores open already. I went into a used books store and noticed that the air-conditioning still wasn't operational. I didn't see anything interesting. I decided it was time to get back to the ITTC building. I took the UP Ikot jeepney this time.

When lunch time came, Kei informed me they were going to work through the break. I went back to Chocolate Kiss and had lunch there. I liked their dinuguan. I also liked their iced tea, which seemed like brewed tea that I had to squeeze calamansi and pour honey into.

After resting for a while, I wanted to go around the campus again, but this time on a jeepney. I got on another UP Ikot. I was surprised that it went outside the campus walls at some point. I got off when it reached the SM North jeepney queue. I was, once again, bored. I decided to go to Trinoma.

My original plan was to go to Coffe Bean and Tea Leaf and spend the afternoon online. When I got there, I just didn't feel like it anymore. I just felt like walking, so I walked around the mall. When I felt myself tiring, I went to Powerbooks so I can while away the time sitting down. I was able to finish How to Train Your Dragon before I had to return to UP. I liked how the book reads, and how it greatly differs from the movie. I described the differences to Kei later, and she said that the movie wouldn't have been as awesome if they stuck with the book. The book is interesting enough that I'm considering to collect the series.

I went back to UP after reading.. and buying a couple of books: Ender in Exile and A War of Gifts (both on paperback -- Randell got these on hardcover, if I remember correctly). After my time at Powerbooks, I suddenly felt that I missed reading books. I might just be a bit more picky this time around.

After Kei's class ended, we walked to Chocolate Kiss. I didn't know that their 2nd floor was on the other side of the building. We asked the waiter for recommendations and ended up ordering them: Beek Sukiyaki (a 2nd floor exclusive -- a surprise that they had those) and Garlic and Mushroom Spaghetti. They were okay, but I wouldn't order them again nor would I recommend them. We'll definitely be back, though.

Before returning to Makati, we stayed for some time at Trinoma. Kei had to get a couple of items for their apartment.

It was a long day! It was quite tiring, with all the walking that I did. But it was very, very enjoyable. :) It took me a while before I could convince Kei to let me accompany her next weekend. :p